Virginia Cop Killed in Drug Raid; Suspect Says He Was Defending His Home

The suspect had no criminal record (at least in the state of Virginia). And he says in an interview from jail he had no idea the undercover cops breaking into his home were police. The suspect, 28-year-old Ryan David Frederick, also says a burglar had broken into his home earlier this week.


Why do we continue to allow law enforcement to conduct these raids? A police officers life is worth more than a measly marijuana grow operation. It is even more tragic that an officer was killed by a private citizen defending his home.

A SWAT high risk warrant is executed with tactics borrowing from the military. The military refers to these type of operations as "Advanced Urban Combat." These operations are handed out to teams that specialize in this sort thing, and train constantly to execute these sorts of missions.

Law Enforcement justifies the tactics used for reasons of officer safety and preservation of evidence. These tactics include shooting dogs, destroying property (doors, windows, toilets, etc.), and proning out anyone inside. While we might not care if this happens to a drug dealer, it will certainly ruin your whole day.

A no-knock raid would look something like this, though this is not an all inclusive list and all teams do not employ all of the tactics listed here.

1. Street lights are shot out with a suppressed weapon, to conceal the approach of the team.
2. As the team moves into position to breach your dog is shot with a suppressed submachine gun.
3. The door is bashed in with a ram, and a flashbang is thrown in.
4. The bedroom and bathroom windows are broken and raked to provide another way to cover those rooms.
5. The toilet is blasted with a shotgun to prevent the flushing of evidence.
6. As the officers make entry any furniture that is in the way will be thrown aside.
7. All people will be ordered to the prone position a gun point
8. One the situation is 'secure' the searches and arrests will begin.

Now imagine that it is your house. You haven't done anything wrong other than to have address that is a number or two different from a suspected drug dealers house. After a few hours this misunderstanding will be cleared up, and the police will apologize for the inconvenience and be on their way.

I agree that these measures are certainly warranted against the worst and most dangerous offenders and if I was serving on one of those teams I would take every precaution to keep myself and my team safe without regard for the property or feelings of the suspect.

The bar needs to be raised. The high risk raid should be a tool of last resort. It should be carried out against suspects where there is enough evidence to convict and there is no other way to apprehend the subject. To use these techniques to gather evidence to build a case is the wrong way to go about it. When there is a mistake it is catastrophic, and though mistakes are uncommon (but not rare) the risks associated are to high to allow these raids to be common place.